Chickpeas: Farm to Table

About PNW Co-op:

Our chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans, begin their seed-to-table journey on our Palouse-region family farms. Located within a 60-mile radius of Pullman, WA, and Moscow, Idaho, many of our farms are over 100 years old.

We generally plant chickpeas in March or April, depending on weather. The plants grow lush, green foliage and produce beautiful white blossoms before forming chickpeas. They continue to grow until the summer sun naturally dries the chickpeas in their pods. They’re typically harvested in mid to late August.

Fun fact:

Moose love chickpeas.

Who can blame them? They’re delicious!

After harvest, the chickpeas are transported to PNW Co-op’s storage facilities, where they’re segregated into their own bins. Every load of chickpeas is documented and assigned quality control lot numbers, for traceability.

The chickpeas are cleaned right before shipment. This is no easy process. The chickpeas are run through various high-tech machines that separate the chickpeas from the non-chickpea material picked up during harvest. This includes plant matter, wheat or barley kernels, tiny pebbles or clumps of dirt. (Some material sneaks through machines, so we recommend rinsing and sorting all dried chickpeas before cooking.)

Once cleaned, the chickpeas are bagged and tagged with quality control info, including date of processing, lot number and a “best by” date of two years from the time of processing. As long as chickpeas are kept cool and dry, they’ll store for 10 years or more. We prefer a “best by” date of two years for maximum freshness.

Once bagged, the chickpeas are shipped to stores, restaurants, schools and food processors throughout the country.

Want to learn more?

Call us at (509) 487-0755 or send an email to: info@EatRealPNW.com. We’re always eager to chat about our farms.